layman's space

Wednesday, 11 January 2017 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 The Nuapada district administration has deferred an inquiry into the fund bungling in three panchayats of Sadar block in the district till the end of the panchayat elections. Bungling of huge amounts of fund under 14th CFC and 4th SFC in Parkod, Beltukri and Bhalesar panchayats came to limelight when the matter was reported in this newspaper on November 22 last. Based on the news, the Executive Officer-cum-Project Director, DRDA had instructed the BDO of Nuapada for an inquiry. When the bank accounts of the said panchayats were verified by the DRDA, it was found that more than one crore rupees have been withdrawn by the concerned officials of these panchayats in last two years from the bank accounts, but not a single work has been done. The DRDA after getting approval of the Collector had formed a committee consisting of the Subdivisional Panchayat Offic...

Monday, 19 December 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 More than 20 children below the age of five of Khadang hamlet at Sunabeda village are deprived of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) as there is no Anganwadi Centre in this remote hamlet located in the Sunabeda plateau of Nuapada district. Most of the children here are undernourished due to lack of food at their homes. The children belong to the Paharia community, which ekes out their living by weaving bamboo baskets. As this traditional occupation is withering due to non-availability of bamboo on the one hand and problems of an assured market on the other, the community is hard-pressed to get two square meals a day. The District Press Club of Nuapada has drawn attention of the district administration several times towards the plight of Paharias, but the administration has not taken any initiative to address even their minimum needs. People of the c...

Saturday, 03 December 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA |  1 2 3 4 5 Three tribal children below two years of age of Samadpadar village in Khariar block died in last 15 days reportedly due to fever. The disease is yet to be ascertained. “Our village is located on a hilltop. There is no road, so we could not take the child to the hospital,” said Bodha Majhi, father of deceased Narendra Majhi, who was one and a half years old. The other two children who died under similar circumstances were identified as Bhumraj and Pitam, both below the age of one year. “Medicine is not available in the village. Neither can we take the patients to the hospital, nor is there the ambulance service. Our only hope is a local quack who visits our village periodically,” said the villagers, adding that three adults have also died in last three months due to the prolonged fever. About 10 children at present are suffering from fever in the village. The villagers ...

Saturday, 26 November 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA |  1 2 3 4 5 The Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Nuapada has issued written instructions to the BDO, Nuapada to take action against the Panchayat Executive Officers (PEOs) of Bhaleswar, Parkod and Beltukri Gram Panchayats for bungling of funds allotted under 14th CFC and 4th SFC. A report published in The Pioneer on Tuesday last had reported that the bungling would amount to Rs 50 lakh. But the EO has mentioned that the amount of misappropriation would be more than Rs 1crore. “Situation of Nuapada block is alarming. More than three cases of huge misappropriation have been detected. PEOs of Beltukri GP, Bhaleswar GP and Parkod GP are avoiding to produce cash books, vouchers and case records before the accounts officer of the block for verification. It is calculated that Rs 101.08 lakh out of 4th SFC and 14th CFC grant has been withdrawn by the concerned PEOs. But not a single pap...

Friday, 25 November 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA |  1 2 3 4 5 Farmers of Domjhar Panchayat of Nuapada district have suffered huge losses in paddy crop in the current Kharif season. “We did not get good quality seed; the sale centres cheated us,” complained the farmers. Basant Behera is one of the farmers of Domjhar village who had cultivated MTU 1001 and Puja varieties of high-yielding paddy in his three acre of irrigated low land. “The seedlings were healthy; the crop growth was very good as well, but there was no fruiting; my hope to get a minimum of 70 quintal of paddy is shattered; every single plant turned gray without yielding a single sprout,” said Basant. Basant failed to get seed in any of the sale centres in the district; so, he bought it from a sale centre in Bangomunda block of Balangir district. “I thought the problem was solved and never apprehended of such a disaster,” added Basant. To cultivate the land, Basant has in...

Tuesday, 22 November 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA |  1 2 3 4 5 The Panchayat Executive Officers (PEOs) of Parkod, Bhaleswar and Beltukri Gram Panchayats of Nuapada district are roaming scot free after misappropriating lakhs of rupees. The funds had been allotted to the Panchayats by the Centre and the State Governments under 14th Finance Commission (14th CFC) and 4th State Finance Commission (4th SFC) for execution of different development works during the financial years from 2014-15 to 2016-17. The PEOs are Pabitra Mirdha in charge of Bhalesar and Beltukri Panchayats and Merelal Tandi in charge of Parkod Gram Panchayat. “They are protected by some politicians of the ruling party, making it difficult to initiate action against them,” said a district level official. After verification of the bank accounts of the Panchayats and the activities undertaken in the field, the Nuapada block administration has estimated that, more than Rs5...

Monday, 24 October 2016 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | 1 2 3 4 5 Unable to bear the trauma of crop loss and loan burden, a middle-aged farmer committed suicide by consuming poison at Bhuliasikuan village of Khariar block in Nuapada district on Sunday. On Saturday evening Santosh Meher (48) had gone out of home and did not return in the night. His body was found on Sunday morning near his thrashing field. He committed suicide by consuming pesticide. “He was under depression for last few days due to loan burden. He had borrowed Rs 80,000 from different private sources for cultivation purpose. The tractor which he bought with bank finance was also seized a few days ago due to nonpayment of instalments. Finding no alternative, he ended his life,” said Meher’s family members. Santosh had 12.5 acre of irrigated land, out of which eight acre was acquired for the Lower Indra Irrigation Project for construction of a canal. “The compensation paid w...